Friday, April 8, 2016

Transcript of BBC interview

As people might have learned from Twitter, I was interviewed on BBC TV News last night (at 7:30pm on Thursday 7th April, 2016).I thought it might be helpful to see a transcript of the interview, as I believe the programme is not available on catch-up TV.

(My comments, and those of my fellow contributor, are in bold)

Housing, debt and welfare, all social issues that are
claimed to be leading one in two people with mental health problems to have
felt suicidal. The charity Mind is today warning that the type of local
services that help those very people are under threat from spending cuts,
despite the government saying it has increased mental health funding to an
estimated #11.7 billion last year. More than 1,500 people who have used mental
health services in the last two years were surveyed on behalf of Mind. Out of
those: 41% said they had considered or attempted suicide because of financial
or housing pressures. 29% said they fear losing welfare benefits. Losing their
job or difficulties at work was the reason 29% of people said they had
considered taking their own life. And a further 29% said a relationship
breakdown was a contributory factor. Also today, the news people with eating
disorders in England are having to wait up to six months to see a mental health
specialist. BBC News has found that in some parts of the country waiting times
have increased by more than 120% over the past four years. The average wait was
182 days in Manchester but about 20 days in Dorset, Dudley and north-east
London. For more on both of these stories I'm joined by Professor Peter
Kinderman from the British Psychological Society and joining us from our
Bristol newsroom is Jane Smith who's the Chief Executive with Anorexia Bulimia
Care.

Jane, people can be forgiven for forgetting that when it
comes to conditions like anorexia and believe me, it is a mental health issue?

Yes, that is true. I
feel we have been the Cinderella of mental health for too long. It claims the
lives of more people than any other mental health condition.

So why are these waiting times a contributing factor?

You might think a
six-month white is not that bad, but of course, remembering that people are
very resistant to treatment, they are frightened of coming forward. There is a
lot of shame and stigma still, so by the time they have reached the GP, they
are often very ill indeed. It is sad, but I'm afraid not surprising. It is what
we hear anecdotally pretty much every day on our helplines, sadly.

So once somebody has decided to get help, it is important
that they get it quickly?

It is vital. The Nice
guidelines recommend quick treatment. Early intervention and better services
have to be the answer.

Peter, it was not long ago that a survey was also showing
the links between financial pressures and mental health. People with mental
health issues struggled to deal with finances. People who get into debt develop
mental health issues, so it is all linked and all congregated. Is it therefore
fair to criticise the government and say they are not doing enough?

I think it indicates
how serious these problems are and how mental health care, even in the UK, a
wealthy country, is an ongoing crisis. So when so many people are reporting not
only that they are having suicidal thoughts, but that the relationships are
breaking down and they are having difficulty in accessing care, that the mental
health is so intimately related to social and economic living conditions, it is
an ongoing crisis. I would not say we blame the government, but it highlights
how serious it is that the government makes sure our collective mental health
is protected and that mental health problems are dealt with rapidly.

Is there a pattern developing? People are facing financial
concerns, and the purse is getting tight for a lot of households.

Sadly, a lot of
people working in mental health did warn the government that austerity
programmes and continued economic financial and employment threats to
people'slivelihood would have a vicious circle effect, that as people become
more psychologically unwell, it will affect performance at work and the ability
to hold their lives together. That puts more pressure on services, and it
spirals. We warned the government that care would have to be taken for the
psychological well-being of people when we entered a period of recession.
Unfortunately, that has turned out to be the case.

Can you narrow it down to a typical case and what should
happen to that person and is not happening? So if somebody at home is feeling
suicidal, they know they have mental health issues and are struggling to deal
with some things in life, what help should be available to them that is not?

People should
immediately have access not only to front line staff that know how to respond
to their needs, but also to experts who can help them follow-up but only with
the psychological well-being, but practical solutions to the everyday problems,
like debt advisers and people with housing advice, and people who can advise on
relationships. They need practical help and they need psychological and mental
health help. Even when people have serious mental health problems, we have
heard that taking help takes a long time and it is difficult. At the same time,
people need practical and even financial help to help them tied over the very
real problems they have. Unfortunately, in both the social and psychological
aspects of their lives, people are having to wait before they get, on occasion,
poor quality services. I am glad the government has put money into mental
health services, but they need to keep on investing.

Jane, what are the experiences of those living with eating
disorders? What are they saying about services?

Too slow, not joined
up enough. The therapeutic side is important, but so is the medical monitoring.
ABC has written the first course to train GPs to spot the signs early. Patients
are also saying that family members, be it parents or partners, but because of
course, adults have eating disorders, are not kept in the loop and there is
often no signposting to organisations like ourselves that could help them while
they wait. That is crucial, because suicide and heart failure are the greatest
killers of those with eating disorders. These are physical bonuses as well
mental health issues. So people need practical help with food, diet and eating,
which is lacking.

Jane Smith and Professor Peter Kinderman, many thanks. If
you want help or advice, you can go to the BBC action line website. You're
watching BBC News. ...